MOLYBDENITE

HISTORY, NAME, LOCALITIES: Molybdenum was identified as a mineral species in 1778, when it was recognized as the sulfide of a previously unknown metallic element that was later named “molybdenum.”  Its name, pronounced mo-LIBB-den-ite, stems from the Greek molybdos, meaning “lead” and alluding to its resemblance to metallic lead.  Important collecting localities are in England, Norway, Mexico, Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States (Colorado).

MINERALOGY, PROPERTIES, OCCURRENCE: Molybdenite [molybdenum disulfide, MoS₂] crystallizes in the hexagonal system as thin, platy, hexagonal crystals or stubby, six-sided prisms that are often distorted, but more often as scales or foliated and granular masses.  Thin flakes are flexible and have a greasy feel.  Molybdenite has a Mohs hardness of 1.0-1.5, perfect cleavage in one direction, metallic luster, and a high specific gravity of 4.6-5.1.  It is opaque with a bluish, lead-gray color.  Molybdenite, by far the most abundant molybdenum-bearing mineral, occurs in high-temperature, hydrothermal veins and in massive, disseminated deposits, the latter of great economic importance.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES, LORE, USES: As the only source of the element molybdenum, molybdenite is mined extensively.  Molybdenum is an alloying agent that increases the toughness and durability of steel; molybdenum compounds are also used in pigments, lubricants, fertilizers, and various high-tech applications.  Perhaps because of its greasy feel and tendency to rub off on skin and clothes, molybdenite is one of the few minerals that has not been assigned metaphysical significance.

COLLECTORS’ INFORMATION: Molybdenite is collected for its rarity, metallic luster, and the unusual, distorted forms of its crystals.